Botanical Gardens in Kisaichi
End of April 2021... We often go to the Botanical Gardens in Kisaichi. It is not far away, just a short train ride. We bought a yearly pass, so we can go anytime especially when we feel to have a good walk in nature. We often buy some food before at the train station and we have a picnic over there. The place is big, we can walk for hours and there is always some new flowers to be seen. Everything is so green by now and it is a great sight for our eyes. The air is good and full of fragrances, we walk through different types of forest and landscapes with bushes that flower all year long depending on their type. This time the main attraction was a handkerchief tree, it normally flowers in June, but the last days have been unusually warm, so it has blossomed earlier.
The Botanical Gardens is 26 hectares big and is operated by Osaka City University. They are near Kisaichi station, Katano, Osaka, Japan and is open to the public.
The gardens were established in 1950 and contain about 4500 species from around the world, including more than 1,000 species native to Japan. They also contain representatives of 11 Japanese forest types.
The handkerchief tree
Davidia involucrata, the dove-tree, handkerchief tree, pocket handkerchief tree, or ghost tree, is a medium-sized deciduous tree in the family Nyssaceae. It was previously included with tupelos in the dogwood family, Cornaceae.It is native to South Central and Southwest China from Hubei to southern Gansu, south to Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan, but is widely cultivated elsewhere.
It is a moderately fast-growing tree, growing to 20–25 m (66–82 ft) in height, with alternate cordate leaves resembling those of a linden in appearance, except that they are symmetrical, and lacking the lop-sided base typical of linden leaves; the leaves are mostly 10–20 cm long and 7–15 cm wide and are ovate to heart-shaped.
Source Wikipedia
The flower of the handkerchief tree
© PHOTOS BY JC DUMONT